Magnetic properties and phase transitions in hexagonal DyMnO3 single crystals

DyMnO₃ single crystals of hexagonal modification were grown for the first time by zone melting, and their anisotropic magnetic properties were studied in detail. At T ～ 7 K, a small uncompensated magnetic moment (～1 μ_B per formula unit) is shown to occur along the hexagonal axis. At temperatures 7–45 K, a transition from the purely antiferromagnetic state to a state with uncompensated magnetic moment was revealed; the transition is induced by a magnetic field H parallel to the c axis. This transition seems to be due to a ferrimagnetic ordering of the moments of Dy cations located in nonequivalent crystallographic positions.